This paper critically reviews how the large‐scale mining industry has performed in the developing world economy. The strategies adopted by a number of developing world governments in recent years to promote foreign investment in mineral exploration and extraction activities raises the question of how multinational mining companies have approached environmental and associated challenges. Although codes of practice and regulatory agencies are generally in an impoverished and piecemeal state throughout the developing world, representatives from regional governments nevertheless expect multinational mining corporations to engage in environmental best practice and contribute to local community development in exchange for their licenses to export minerals. After reviewing the impacts of mining in the developing world economy, the performance of the industry is examined more precisely through case study analysis of sub‐Saharan Africa, Asia/Eastern Europe and Latin America.

The environmental and socioeconomic performance of multinational mining companies in the developing world economy

This study builds on a previous study from the raw materials group, a Sweden-based minerals consultancy, originally commissioned by the World Bank in 2008. The trend toward more state engagement in the mining industry as noted in the 2008 study has continued, based on more recent developments. This study includes an expanded section on the new forms of state control which are found in Africa and also in Russia, China, India, and other emerging economies. It lays out the possible political implications of these trends and draws lessons from previous periods of increasing state ownership, including how to avoid previous mistakes. Various metals and the history of nationalization in a number of countries are analyzed as are the possible factors influencing the decision to nationalize, such as the sector's strategic importance and the need to control it. China's role in investing in Africa is discussed noting the issues concerning negotiation strategies, looking at the history of deals made in Sub-Saharan Africa. State ownership is defined in detail in appendix one of this document. A consolidated list of state ownership in mining of selected minerals and mineral refining on which the study is based is presented in appendix two.

Overview of state ownership in the global minerals industry

Wall street: How it works and for whom: Doug Henwood New York: Verso, 1997 x + 372 pp. includes index Hbk., $29.95 ISBN 0-86091-495-X

Platinum group elements (PGEs) are an important resource for many applications, such as automotive catalytic converters for vehicles, jewelry, electrical devices and as catalysts in the chemical and petroleum industries. At present, the greatest share of global PGE supply is extracted from the South African Bushveld Complex and from the Zimbabwean Great Dyke. In this context, this article provides a comprehensive summary of detailed mining data between 2010 and 2015 and discusses these in regard to the global PGE market. On the supply side, the data reveal that the production volumes as well as the ore grades fluctuated in recent years, while the mining and processing of economically less favorable Upper Group 2 (UG2) ore increased. The average head grade from 2010 to 2015 was 3.58 g 6E/t. In the long term, the ore grades decreased. On the market side, PGE prices and increasing (primary) production costs can be observed. On the market side, the demand for vehicles is expected to grow globally resulting in an increase in PGE demand. At the same time, secondary production is expected to increase and will eventually compete with primary production. These findings indicate challenging conditions for the Southern African PGE industry.

/pdf/pge-production-in-southern-africa-part-i-production-and-3crta665jw.pdf

PGE Production in Southern Africa, Part I: Production and Market Trends

State enterprises, supply behaviour and market volatility

This paper examines the evolution of the control by the state of mining and smelting from 1975 to 1989. In 1950, there was little state-owned mining capacity outside the centrally planned economies. A wave of nationalizations of mine assets swept over the developing countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s. State control continued to rise, in developing countries as well as in the developed market economy countries, until the mid-1980s, when the trend reversed. At present some 20% of Western world mineral production is state controlled. The level of control is highest for those minerals mined mainly in the developing countries, and lowest for those minerals mined mainly in the developed market economy countries. The current trend is toward privatization of state-owned mining enterprises in developed countries and it is expected that as the 1990s progress, privatization of such enterprises will also begin to take place in developing countries.

Dynamics of state mining enterprises during the 1980s and the outlook for the 1990s

The platinum group mining industry is among the most concentrated of all metal mining industries. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index for palladium is 2413 in 2014, on the threshold to what is defined as “highly concentrated”. When considering that production is also concentrated in a few countries, more than 80 % of total world production is mined in South Africa and Russia, it is obvious that platinum group metals (PGMs) are labelled “critical” by many governments such as the EU, Japan and the USA (EU Commission 2014; National Research Council 2008; Prime Minister of Japan 2015). The development of the corporate structure for PGMs is analysed. Into the future, it looks as if the degree of concentration will decrease.

Global PGM mining during 40 years—a stable corporate landscape of oligopolistic control

With examples from the RMG Database two members of the Group analyse recent structural changes in the mining industry and predict a turbulent period in the mid-1990s.

The corporate structure in the international mining industry: The present situation and the outlook for the mid 1990s

The tables on the following pages are excerpts from Raw Materials Data, the database on ownership and production in the world's mineral industries. Raw Materials Data is compiled by the Raw Materials Group and is the only database of its kind covering more than 7 000 mining, refining and exploration companies active in more than 30 minerals. Readers of Raw Materials Report will regularly get exclusive excerpts from Raw Materials Data.

Andreas Tegen

Papers

Dynamics of state mining enterprises during the 1980s and the outlook for the 1990s

Global PGM mining during 40 years—a stable corporate landscape of oligopolistic control

The corporate structure in the international mining industry: The present situation and the outlook for the mid 1990s

Western world gold industry: Ownership and control 1993

State mining enterprises in the international minerals industry